PSYC 51a: Statistics
Summer 2015 Syllabus
PSYC 51a - STATISTICS
Department of Psychology
Brandeis University
Summer, 2015
Instructor: Jasmine (Hasmik) Boshyan
Email: jboshyan@brandeis.edu (Preferred)
Office: Brown 18B
Phone: (781) 736-3278
Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 4:00-5:30
Class Day and Time: Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1:30-3:50 pm
Class Location: TBA
Course Description:
Statistics is used everywhere – from opinion polls to clinical trials in medicine. It is used to draw
conclusions about populations by collecting, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting numerical
information about subjects of interest, and it is used to make decisions that go beyond the
observation. This course serves as an introduction to gathering and summarizing numerical
information (descriptive statistics) and making decisions that go beyond the cases observed
(inferential statistics). Since this is a psychology course, techniques useful in the behavioral
sciences will be emphasized. Topics of the course include methods for describing data, normal,
t-, χ2, and F- distributions, hypothesis testing, simple correlation and regression analysis, and
analysis of variance (ANOVA). Data and examples from empirical studies will be used to
elaborate when an analytic method is appropriate and how the method can help address the
research questions or test the research hypotheses. Students will have ample opportunities to
practice using each method through take-home assignments, in-class exercises, examinations,
and SPSS reports. Students will receive extensive instruction in the use of SPSS.
Learning Goals:
☛ To know how to describe data
☛ To understand the key concepts of hypothesis testing and inferential statistics
☛ To understand the principles related to each of the statistical method covered in this
course
☛ To understand when and why you need to use a particular statistical method
☛ To know how to set up and do related data analysis in SPSS
☛ To know how to read and interpret the output of SPSS and how to communicate the
results to others
Required Materials:
th
& Textbook: Field, A. (2013) Discovering Statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics (4
edition). SAGE Publications Ltd. (ISBN-13: 978-1446249185; ISBN-10: 1446249182)
☛ Calculator: $10 variety, basic calculations. You will not be allowed to use your
smartphone for exams, so be sure to have a simple, stand-alone calculator.
☛ Statistics software SPSS: Will be available for free from LTS.
Course Requirements:
☛ Class attendance and participation (10%)
We will be doing a lot of work in class that cannot be made up. Class attendance is required.
Because unforeseen emergencies can prevent your attendance at a class through no fault of
Page 1
PSYC 51a: Statistics
Summer 2015 Syllabus
your own, two absences during the course are allowed with no reduction in your grade.
☛ Chapter homework (HW) assignments (20%)
For every chapter/topic there will be a short assignment to be turned in. These assignments
are due at the beginning of the class. A hard copy must be turned in. The grade range per
assignment is 0-2, where 0 means you didn’t submit it, 1 means you made an effort but
misunderstood enough material that you should get help, and 2 means you did perfectly or
made minor mistakes. Your submitted answers must reflect your own thoughts, in your
own words. Answers that duplicate those of other students will be given 0 credit.
Because answers will be available immediately in class or right after class, these assignments
will NOT be accepted late. You will be allowed to miss two homework assignments during the
course. All the tentative due dates are listed below in the schedule. It is your responsibility to
check LATTE regularly for changes to the schedule and due dates.
☛ Six SPSS reports (40%)
These reports are designed to give you a chance to practice performing the analysis using
SPSS and writing up a brief report/description of the data. These reports are due at the
beginning of the class. An electronic copy of your SPSS data, syntax and output files should be
submitted on LATTE along with a word file with a brief description/report of the results (specific
instructions for each report assignment will be given in class). Your submitted
description/report must reflect your own thoughts, in your own words. Answers that
duplicate those of other students will be given 0 credit. Late data analysis assignments will
be accepted, but there will be grade penalty by 2 points per each late day. Please see the
schedule below for the dues dates. It is your responsibility to check LATTE regularly for
changes to the schedule and due dates.
☛ Two Exams (30%)
There are two exams scheduled, and you can find the dates on the class schedule below.
Both exams will consist of multiple-choice questions and short answer questions. Exams will be
cumulative, based on the nature of statistics, in which new topic incorporates theory and applied
aspects of prior learning. More details will be given in class closer to the day of each exam.
Grading:
Your course grade will consist of 1) class participation (10%), 2) homework assignments
(20%), 3) SPSS data analysis reports (40%), and 4) two exams (30%). For each component,
you will receive a numerical score, then final score will be converted to a letter grade at the end
of the course, based on this standard (i.e., A+ 97-100; A 93-96; A- 90-92; B+ 87-89; B 83-86; B80-82; C+ 77-79; C 73-76; C- 70-72). A blank grading sheet for the course will be provided
during the first class so you can track your own progress.
How to do well in this class:
< Do not miss any class. If you must miss class, contact me and visit my office hours (or
schedule a meeting) and I will give you a short overview.
< Preview the lecture notes poste on LATTE and come to class ready to ask questions
about reading assigned and lecture slides before each class. Anything from the lecture
slides can be on the exam, whereas contents that are in the book but not covered in clas
will not be covered on exams.
Page 2
PSYC 51a: Statistics
<
<
<
<
<
<
Summer 2015 Syllabus
Pick up your homework assignments as soon as they are ready, and go over them
thoroughly, using the answers provided in class or on LATTE, to make sure you
understand everything. We will go over answers if we have extra time after learning
course materials.
Complete all SPSS procedures, and ask questions in class or in office hours if
something is not clear. The report format will be explained in class. The exams will
contain SPSS material, so working through these reports will definitely help you prepare
for the exams.
Practice exams (quizzes) will be provided on LATTE, with answers. The practice exam
content is a representative sample of what the real exam will cover, but it may not cover
every topic that will be on the real exam. The practice exams are about 1/2 the length of
the real exams. A good strategy is to study the book, the notes, the assignments, and do
the practice quizzes.
The material based on inferential statistics and performing analyses using SPSS is
demanding at first and you may probably have to go over it several times in several
different ways before you fully understand it. However, students who do complete all of
this work are likely to master the necessary skills and make good grades. You may also
find that conducting the analysis is interesting and rewarding.
Do not hesitate to ask for help when you need it. The longer you wait, the more material
will accumulate and the harder it will be to master it. If you find yourself not
understanding the assigned readings, lectures, or assignments, please set up an
appointment with me or drop by during office hours.
Please remember that doing all requirements thoroughly in a timely manner is the key to
successfully mastering this course!
Class Policies:
☛ Makeup exams - In emergency cases, only with valid excuses, you may take a makeup
exam prior to the scheduled exam day. Valid excuses consist of sickness with a doctor’s
note and documented family emergencies.
☛ Disability Services - If you are a student with a documented disability on record at
Brandeis University and wish to have reasonable accommodations made for you, please
let me know.
☛ Academic integrity - Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational
excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed
independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is
not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person – be it a world-class
philosopher or your lab partner – without proper acknowledgement of that source. This
means that you must use author citations, endnotes, and, where appropriate, quotation
marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or ideas found in
published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. Violations of
University policies on academic integrity, described in Section Three of Rights and
Responsibilities, may result in failure in the course or on the assignment, or in
suspension or dismissal from the University. If you are in doubt about the instructions for
any assignment in this course, it is your responsibility to ask for clarification.
☛ Etiquette - Please arrive on time to settle down before class begins and remain until the
end. Deactivate your cell phone. Show respect for others and do not engage in activity
which will distract our learning.
Page 3
PSYC 51a: Statistics
Summer 2015 Syllabus
Student resources:
☛ Textbook companion site for students: http://www.sagepub.com/field4e/study/default.htm
☛ For SPSS tutorials and other good stuff see www.youtube.com/user/ProfAndyField
☛ For SPSS support at Brandeis, refer to http://lts.brandeis.edu/techhelp/content/spss.html
☛ Good site for revising basic math: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maths/
☛ SPSS statistical software package, Version 21: Accessible on computers in Goldfarb
Computer Classroom (26 seats, Goldfarb Library Mezzanine), Farber Computer
Classroom (32 seats, Farber Library Level 1), Information Commons (27 seats, Goldfarb
Library Level 1), Shapiro Library Cluster (24 seats, Shapiro Campus Center Level 2).
SPSS can also be installed on your personal PC or Mac through Brandeis LTS at
http://brandeis.onthehub.com (If necessary, you can go to the Help Desk for help with
installation.)
Comments:
Your comments and suggestions about this course are welcome at any time.
Approximate class/reading/homework schedule (subject to change):
Date
Topic
Readings
HW
Introduction
Ch1: 1.1-1.4
June 1(M)
SPSS Basics
Ch3
Frequency distribution
June 3(W) Central tendency &
Ch1: from 1.5
variability
Populations, Samples &
June 4(T)
Ch2: 2.1-2.5
HW #1
Scales
Hypothesis Testing, Effect
June 8(M)
Ch2: from 2.6
HW #2
Size & Power
June 10(W)
Creating Scales
June 11(T)
Review
June 15(M)
SPSS
SPSS report #1
Ch17: 17.9-17.10
HW #3
All above
HW #4
SPSS report #2
SPSS report #3
MIDTERM EXAM
June 17(W)
Independent & Related
Samples T-test
Ch9
June 18(T)
One-way ANOVA
Ch11
HW #5
June 22(M)
Factorial ANOVA
Ch13
HW #6
Ch14
HW #7
Ch7: 7.1-7.4
Ch8: 8.1-8.4
HW #8
SPSS report #4
Ch18: 18.1-18.5
HW #9
SPSS report #5
All above
HW #10
SPSS report #6
June 24(W)
June 25(T)
June 29(M)
July 1(W)
TBA
Repeated-measures
ANOVA
Correlation
Regression
Chi-square
Review
FINAL EXAM
Page 4